Bodin has scored six goals in seven matches this season and 17 goals in his last 29 league appearances. During the transfer window there was speculation surrounding a number of clubs being interested in the Welsh attacker.

“Billy’s case is dead simple,” explained the Rovers chairman.

Billy Bodin (Image: Dougie Allward/JMP)

“He’s a player who has come on leaps and bounds recently. You will always get offers dead easy, there was one that was submitted that was quite honestly just derisory.

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“Clubs and intermediaries have made a rod for their own back, it’s nice to have that figure out there, if it is true, as a benchmark.”

The Rovers chairman also lamented the increasing role intermediaries play in modern transfer dealings.

Steve Hamer at the Memorial Ground

“The only people who prosper from the false market that is created are the intermediaries. It’s like a feeding frenzy for them, they’ve got an opportunity for 31 days in January and from effectively May 1 until August 31,” said Hamer.

“In my opinion, they’re not helpful. The majority, if they can destabilise a player they’ll do so.

“The lower two divisions look to get young players on loan to give them game experience, it’s good for Premier League clubs and it’s good for clubs like us.

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"Now you can spend weeks or days talking to top tier clubs about bringing in a player and all of a sudden the intermediary says ‘I don’t want the player to go to that club’.

“So he makes the decision about where that player can go, years ago it was club to club.”

Bristol Rovers chairman Steve Hamer

Despite the difficulties of completing deals in the current market, the Rovers chairman was pleased the club were able to bring in eight first team signings early in the window.

“Last year we learnt a lesson,” explained Hamer

“For whatever reason, it was a bit rushed with a very late promotion. Players were coming in literally on deadline day and it takes some time to get used to it. I think this year we learnt a lesson, we targeted about 10 and we got eight, and we would probably would have had 10 but for external reasons intercepting the position.”